News

Philippine Call Center Sector To Grow 50%-70% In 05: Exec

(August 24, 2005 - yahoo.com (finance)) - MANILA (Dow Jones)--The call-center business in the Philippines will continue to grow robustlyin the coming years, albeit at a slower pace than that of the past five years, an industry executive said Wednesday.

Bong Borja, president of PeopleSupport Inc. (PSPT) and a director of the Call Center Association of the Philippines, told a business forum that the industry is expected to grow seat capacity by 50% to 70% this year after ending 2004 with a total of 45,000 agent seats, equivalent to 72,000 jobs.

The local call-center business has grown exponentially since 2000, when this sector of the business process outsourcing industry had a capacity of 2,000 seats and employed 3,000 agents.

"The Philippines was a difficult sell five years ago," said Borja, whose Nasdaq-listed PeopleSupport is one of the largest outsourcing service providers in the Philippines. "In 2000, we (the Philippines) were virtually unknown. Now, we're the contact center location of choice," he added.

CCAP data showed that the industry needs to recruit 3,000 agents and 300 supervisors every month to cope with growing demand.

"We are triggering a real estate boom that would have not occurred if this industry isn't where it is today," Borja said.

A glut in Philippine office space followed the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. But real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. (CBG) said in April that demand will finally catch up with supply of office space by the third quarter, due largely to the growing business process outsourcing industry.

Borja said that while the call-center sector will continue to grow robustly, it would soon be outshone by other segments of the business process outsourcing industry such as medical transcription, engineering, animation and software development.

Borja said the growth of the animation business in the Philippines is only constrained by the supply of artists, which he noted is being addressed with the setting up of an animation school.

He also noted that government is also adjusting policies, including those for education and labor, to ensure the continued growth of the business process outsourcing industry in the country.